Dried Plasma May Soon Become Available

In an effort to address the preponderance of survivable battlefield injuries involving blood loss, Army health officials are considering the reintroduction of dried plasma to battlefield treatment kits for the first time since the 1960s. Dried plasma, which contains proteins and clotting factor, was dropped because of concerns about hepatitis contamination. Army medics presently rely upon fluids such as Hextend, an electrolytic solution that resembles plasma, to treat battlefield injuries. But the fluids do little to stop bleeding. Officials believe that new methods of treating wounded soldiers with dried plasma before transfer to deployed hospitals could greatly improve battlefield survivability.